The Adams family of
PottersThe Adams family had
potteries in Staffordshire as early as 1650.
At that date two brothers, William and Thomas
had separate ventures in Burslem.

Such family activity
continued for many years. William Adams and Company, with large potteries
in Tunstall was managed by members who were the 11th and 12th generations
in direct descent from the original 17th century Adams of Burslem.

Whilst there is no longer an
Adams pottery, some of their designs are still produced with their backstamp under the Wedgwood Group name. Adams joined the Wedgwood Group
in 1966.

Attributing examples of china marked
Adams to a particular man can be complicated and confusing because
so many of them bore the same given name, William.

This is particularly true with
collectible Adams china. In the latter part of the 18th-century and
continuing into the 19th, there were three William Adams.

All were cousins and operated their
own large potteries independent of the others. Further, with one
exception, they were succeeded by sons of the same given name who,
in the main, continued making the same kinds of wares. They were:

1) William
Adams 1745-1805, of Greengate, Tunstall.

2) William Adams 1748-1831, of Brickhouse, Burslem and
later Cobridge Hall, Cobridge.

3) William Adams 1772-1829, of Stoke-on-Trent.

Important also was:

4) William
Adams 1798-1865, of Greenfield.

The three cousins made the
standard kinds of Staffordshire pottery from
Queensware to ordinary earthenware, transfer decorated in blue
and other colours. William Adams (1) of Greengate and William Adams
(4) are a special
interest to collectors. The former made jasperware that equalled that
of Wedgwood. William Adams (4) produced 30 different designs of
American scenic and history china.

1) William Adams
1745-1805, of Greengate, Tunstall.He outshone his
cousins in artistic ability and was reputed to be Josiah Wedgwood's
favorite pupil. He established his own pottery in 1789 where he made
Queensware, "painted china glaze ware," transfer,
basalt and
Jasper until
his death in 1805.

Under his control
Jasper ware was made in quantity, included table sets, plaques for
furniture and mantlepiece mounts, cylinders for candlestick bases and
jewelry medallions.

He also perfected a
special shade for his ware, known as "Adams blue" for its distinctive
colour which approached violet.

William (1) was succeeded
by his son Benjamin who was not too successful commercially. Benjamin sold
the Greengate pottery in 1820. It then passed from family control until
repurchased by William Adams (4) to expand his production. It became a
unit of William Adams and Company, Tunstall.

2) William Adams 1748-1831, of Brickhouse, Burslem and
later Cobridge Hall, Cobridge.His father, John Adams was also a
potter, and died when his son was seven.

During William's minority Brickhouse
pottery, established in 1657 by an earlier John Adams, was leased to
Josiah Wedgwood.

This continued until about 1772 when
Wedgwood moved to his newly built Etruria pottery and William Adams (2)
established his own business at Brickhouse. He was so successful with the
usual Queensware and other Staffordshire wares that in a few years he
moved to Cobridge Hall which he had built in nearby Cobridge.

His important in achievement was the
introduction to Staffordshire of the transfer printed method of
decoration. During his latter years, his specialties were
spatterware
and Red Rose, a cottage tableware so named for its bold painted decoration
of roses and foliage.

Was the son of Richard
Adams, maker of unmarked salt glaze and white stoneware.

Toward the close of the
18th-century, William (3) was operating four potteries in Stoke-on-Trent
including one at at Cliffbank. He produced Queensware and transfer
decorated earthenware, including one of the early American scenic designs,
brought out about 1827. It appeared on dark blue plates in two sizes
titled on the reverse "Mitchell & Freeman China and Glass Warehouse,
Chatham Street, Boston." Obviously the plates with this view were ordered
by the partners for business promotion.

In 1819 his son,
William Adams (4), became a partner and the company name was changed to
William Adams & Son. Later three other sons were made partners, the firm
name then becoming William Adams & Sons.

Thomas Wolfe had occupied the Big Works by
1781 it was on
the north-east side of the Newcastle canal - opposite Spode's pottery
works.

In 1818 Thomas Wolfe's
widow Rachel let the two works to William Adams. The famous Adams family
continued to work the old Wolfe factories until c.1862.

Stoke-upon-Trent c.1819 -
The view is along Church Street, London Road to the right

The railings in front of
the works is the Newcastle Canal - the canal went underneath
Church Street and the Wheatsheaf Inn and then ran alongside Spode's and
Wolfe's works.

To the immediate left is the Wheatsheaf Public House (a coaching inn).
Next the Wheatsheaf is Wolfe's "Big Works"
To the right of the picture is Wolfe's china factory - the Bridge Bank
works

This son and first partner of William
Adams (3) was a prolific producer of American scenic and historic china.
On his father's death he became managing director of the family business.
About 1834 he built the Greenfield pottery in Tunstall, the first
important one there, to which the firms offices, styled Adams & Sons, were
moved.

Active in the American trade, he
visited the United States in 1821 and in 1825. Then or later, he secured
prints of American scenes done after paintings by Thomas Cole, W. G.
Wall and others. From the prints he copied his 15 scenic designs. There
was also the Log Cabin plate for William Henry Harrison's presidential
election in 1840. All the patterns were transfer printed in the, brown,
light blue and black but no dark blue. Each piece in these patterns has
on the reverse, title of the particular view in the same colour and the
mark of W. Adams & Sons, impressed.

About 1830 Adams & Sons also produced its
Columbus series of 14 designs based on events in the discoverer's career.
Transfer printing for these was in light colours, ranging through pink,
brown, green and purple as well as black. A special printed mark was used.
An anchor and a shield lettered Columbus and, on a scarf below, W. A.& S.

After William (4) died in 1865, the
potteries in Stoke-on-Trent were sold and everything moved Tunstall where
the business was conducted by his sons, William and Percy W. L. Adams.
They added porcelain tablewares to their other products. In turn they were
succeeded by their sons and grandsons who came to direct their potteries.